Erica Allar Takes 2014 Delray Beach Twilight Criterium

The Colavita/Fine Cooking Women’s Pro Cycling Team kicked off the 2014 USA Criterium Series calendar with its first victory of the season at the the Delray Beach Twilight Criterium

Defending women’s overall USA Crits Champion, Erica Allar, and her teammates proved from the gun that they were there to race aggressively from start to finish. Allar set the early pace high by quickly earning the first prime of the night on lap one. From there on the team was able to grab more primes, including “Gambler Prime” for $500 with 3 laps to go, which was swept up by Jessi Prinner. The home turf advantage of the team’s new bike sponsor, Stradalli Cycles, along with other Colavita sponsor support at the race gave the team the extra bit of motivation they needed to show their sponsors that it’s definitely a new year and a new squad for Team Colavita/Fine Cooking.

Erica Allar felt the win was ‘extra special” saying,”This first win of the season for us was extra special as John Profaci (Vice President of Marketing for Colavita) was in town to see us race. It added extra motivation for us to be aggressive and show that this is a new season and a new team. We launched multiple attacks keeping the pace high. The team worked really well together covering moves from other teams and forming a lead out when it came to a field sprint. We worked so well together and I am very excited about the rest of the season.”

Cohesive teamwork, relentless attacks, consistent teamwork and lots of grit and determination set up a near perfect lead out on the final lap, insuring a podium finish for Erica. Allar was quick to give credit where credit was due … “It was an awesome experience and I’m so proud of everybody for working together so well.”

Finishing in the top ten were Jen Purcell and Lenore Pipes, with a 6th and 9th places respectively, not to discredit the important efforts of teammates Lindsay Bayer, Jessi Prinner, and Amy Good.

Up next, Team/Colavita heads to the Sunny King Crit in Anniston, Alabama, to kick off the first race of the National Crit Calendar (NCC) on Saturday, April 5th.